The Boston Celtics returned the NBA Championship to the Eastern Conference and this summer teams are making moves to keep it there. HOOPSWORLD takes a look at the power rankings in the East with its current rosters.

1. Boston Celtics:

2. Cleveland Cavaliers:

3. Detroit Pistons:

4. Philadelphia 76ers:

5. Toronto Raptors:

6. Orlando Magic: Rashard Lewis was supposed to help Dwight Howard lead the Magic on a deep postseason run. That didn't happen. The Magic fell short in the playoffs and have done little to spark hope for a championship next season. They will need more than Mickael Pietrus off the bench to make up for their thin backcourt, which boasts a mediocre point guard in Jameer Nelson and the rarely-used-but-never-traded J.J. Redick. Howard's shoulders are not big enough to carry this team.

7. Washington Wizards:

8. Indiana Pacers:

9. Miami Heat:

10. Atlanta Hawks:

11. Charlotte Bobcats:

12. Chicago Bulls:

13. Milwaukee Bucks:

14. New Jersey Nets:

15. New York Knicks:

Hoops World (http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9710)

:)

Chris36Chambers

08-08-2008, 12:22 PM

6??? That's B.S we should be @ least third & Det. should be second...cavs only had 45 wins last season & we gave the C's their 1st lost!!! We beat them 2-1...dis list is disrespectful

*Superman*

08-08-2008, 06:10 PM

6??? That's B.S we should be @ least third & Det. should be second...cavs only had 45 wins last season & we gave the C's their 1st lost!!! We beat them 2-1...dis list is disrespectful

Yeah, that article is pittyful. Orlando IMO is at best 2 and no lower than 3 or 4. Cavs are 5-6 and no offense IndyFan, but the Pacers are not 8. Whoever made the article has no knowledge about the Magic because they think that MP will be coming off the bench when he will be the starting 2! Whoever made it should be fired!:mad:

The Melky Way

08-08-2008, 06:35 PM

Well, these rankings are off probably best record, if it is going of actual rank, the Magic would be 3rd because even if they finish with the 6th best record in the East, we will win the division and move into that #3 slot because the Hawks, Heat and Bobcats aren't going to take over the division, well maybe the Hawks if they get hot, but it is doubtful.

If Lewis as the same season he did last year, we are screwed because he needs to be a bigger part of this team or Dwight will continue to get double teamed and tire down because of being overworked.

The articles does have some far fetched ideas, but going off record alone and not playoff rankings, I would agree with a lot of this.

I really disagree with the Pacers and Heat being higher than the Hawks and I really do not see Cavaliers being the 2nd best team in the East, the Pistons are still a better team and the Cavs have done crap to improve that teams depth around James.

Chazm

08-08-2008, 07:35 PM

Unless we can make some moves, this seems about right to me

I can't see Hedo duplicating his season like last season. I think his value is at his peak right now and his #'s will slip next year. Pietrus and Johnson don't seem to be anything special and our backcourt is not that great.

AirJordanXVIII

08-08-2008, 11:51 PM

Haha we had this same exact link and thread over at the Sixers forum. Dont get to harsh on it.. it should be

Boston
Detroit
Philly
Toronto
Orlando
Clevland

3-6 are a big toss up IMO.

*Superman*

08-09-2008, 01:24 AM

Haha we had this same exact link and thread over at the Sixers forum. Dont get to harsh on it.. it should be

Boston
Detroit
Philly
Toronto
Orlando
Clevland

3-6 are a big toss up IMO.

Since you said not to get harsh, I'm not gonna say anything....except that wait until the season comes...

kanersen

08-09-2008, 11:30 AM

raptor's fan here
i think its just silly to rank Orlando as anything below 3rd at this point (behind Boston and Detroit)

Toronto and Philly have improved, but until they play and beat the Magic with regularity, Orlando deserves to be put up ahead

personally i'm looking forward to a rematch of last year's playoffs with JO hopefully helping out against Howard who single handedly destroyed us in the playoffs :( As well as a progression from Andrea Bargnani and having a playoff run where TJ Ford hasn't destroyed the chemistry of the team leading up to it.

Good luck to you Magic, you deserve more respect then you are getting

Reezy

08-09-2008, 11:59 AM

raptor's fan here
i think its just silly to rank Orlando as anything below 3rd at this point (behind Boston and Detroit)

Toronto and Philly have improved, but until they play and beat the Magic with regularity, Orlando deserves to be put up ahead

personally i'm looking forward to a rematch of last year's playoffs with JO hopefully helping out against Howard who single handedly destroyed us in the playoffs :( As well as a progression from Andrea Bargnani and having a playoff run where TJ Ford hasn't destroyed the chemistry of the team leading up to it.

Good luck to you Magic, you deserve more respect then you are getting
Thanks for the post. If Jermaine can stay healthy I would fully expect Toronto to be battling for the 3 seed, if not higher.

The Melky Way

08-09-2008, 04:13 PM

Thanks for the post. If Jermaine can stay healthy I would fully expect Toronto to be battling for the 3 seed, if not higher.

Toronto will be 4th at best.

They are in the same division as Boston and until Boston proves they aren't worth it, Toronto will remain the best out of the 3 division winners (Boston, Detroit, Orlando).

If Jermaine stays healthy, they are deadly and can probably finish with the 2nd best record in the East, behind Boston, but because being in the same division as Boston, they slip to 4, which would probably benefit them because they would probably get a team like Cleveland in the first round, which they can easily beat because Big Z/Wallace vs Bosh/O'Neal would be a massacre.

*Superman*

08-10-2008, 12:56 AM

Toronto will be pretty good this season, because of JO and now Calderon will be their starter. They can be a real good team as long as JO remains healthy, i hope we don't VS them in the playoffs.

skyhibballpj87

08-10-2008, 01:00 AM

how in the hell is cleveland 2nd thats what id like to know. cleveland last season made it just as far into the playoffs as the magic did but there ranked 4 spots above us please someone tell me how that makes sense. the magic are a good team your note about reddick is noted and pietrus will start not come off the bench and Lewis i think will become a bigger part of the offense next season and no doubt dwight will improve his post game. and jameer showed promise in the playoffs so i would no longer call him meidiocre i agree he needs alot of work but hes a pretty decent pg. Magic are 4th at worst i think yes philly and toronto improved but jermaine has knack for getting injured. the sixers will be dangerous i agree and i think they are actually better then cleveland. cleveland has lebron and thats really about it until they get another scorer and a true pg they will always be a step behind. and you cant rank them higher then detroit either because if they were better they would have made it to the coference finals. and how are the pacers 8th when your best player is danny granger i admit you guys got some young talent but your around 12th. Miami, hawks and bobcats will all be better then indy guarenteed as long as they all stay healthy. This threads a joke this guy to me has few vaild points if any.

*Superman*

08-10-2008, 01:02 AM

^Its a stupid article, you can automatically discard it. Looks like some chick wrote it....hater!lol

atomik102

08-11-2008, 02:31 AM

If Lewis as the same season he did last year, we are screwed because he needs to be a bigger part of this team or Dwight will continue to get double teamed and tire down because of being overworked.

Once again, lewis will be more of a factor because battie is back, so we can have howard battie in the post,lewis sitting behind the 3 point doing his thing,MP at 2 and nelson at 1, plus IMO howard causes himself to tire down if your doubled team pass the ball to the open man instead of trying to take them on, i love Howard but he does that way to much for my liking, i think we will be just fine, but we do need a back up pg still so im hoping we can make something happen witht he grizz's give them fran for all i care with jj lol:bow:

*Superman*

08-11-2008, 02:54 AM

Fran and JJ. Doesn't seem bad, i heard that Darko's agent is the same as Fran's so if their is still hard feelings, then trade his asss. No need to "hold his rights" when he isn't coming.

atomik102

08-11-2008, 06:06 PM

lets get it done if it happens we see jj 2 times a year instead of 3 to 4 times so he doesnt have that much of a chance to be a magic killer

*Superman*

08-11-2008, 07:30 PM

But what the Grizz really wanted was JJ and a 1st for Critt. I don't want to give up that first for a "potential" guy.

atomik102

08-12-2008, 01:31 AM

i wouldnt give up a pick for critt, maybe lowery, and have them give us a future 1st round in like 2 to 3 years?

IMO Jenny Finch is one of the hottest women in the world lol

*Superman*

08-12-2008, 02:12 AM

Lowery looks like a keeper for the Grizz.

Random much? lol, she is alright.

atomik102

08-12-2008, 03:46 PM

1:30am usa softball was on the tv what can you do and she was pitching lol,what i worry about is do the grizzs really need a sg?

*Superman*

08-12-2008, 10:09 PM

They don't want JJ, just the 1st. They will most likely let JJ go it they don't like him.

MagicMan92

08-13-2008, 01:53 AM

raptor's fan here
i think its just silly to rank Orlando as anything below 3rd at this point (behind Boston and Detroit)

Toronto and Philly have improved, but until they play and beat the Magic with regularity, Orlando deserves to be put up ahead

personally i'm looking forward to a rematch of last year's playoffs with JO hopefully helping out against Howard who single handedly destroyed us in the playoffs :( As well as a progression from Andrea Bargnani and having a playoff run where TJ Ford hasn't destroyed the chemistry of the team leading up to it.

Boston is still the beast of the east, The magics will be great this year because Lewis will be great , the play of Nelson, and D12. Detroit is great, but they are gettin a little older. Philadelphia is good, great with brand and iggy back. Toronto, it all depends on JO. If hes healthy 4 seed, if not 6-8. Cleveland, they have Lebron James, but thats it. IDK how hoopsworld ranked them TWO! Washington is a good team. New Jersey is my suprise of the year. When you look at their roster, they have some seriousley good players, starting with harris at PG. and the rest of the standings is hard to predict, but at least the East will look good this year and not get dominated by the West.

Reezy

08-13-2008, 02:04 AM

1:30am usa softball was on the tv what can you do and she was pitching lol,what i worry about is do the grizzs really need a sg?
Off topic, but were you watching it on NBC?

Boston is still the beast of the east, The magics will be great this year because Lewis will be great , the play of Nelson, and D12. Detroit is great, but they are gettin a little older. Philadelphia is good, great with brand and iggy back. Toronto, it all depends on JO. If hes healthy 4 seed, if not 6-8. Cleveland, they have Lebron James, but thats it. IDK how hoopsworld ranked them TWO! Washington is a good team. New Jersey is my suprise of the year. When you look at their roster, they have some seriousley good players, starting with harris at PG. and the rest of the standings is hard to predict, but at least the East will look good this year and not get dominated by the West.

Good list, I would swap the Heat and NJ.

skyhibballpj87

08-14-2008, 12:04 AM

good list but yea i dont think nets are 8th and until we actually beat detroit i put them ahead of us in the rankings.

*Superman*

08-14-2008, 02:15 AM

^That too.

MagicMan92

08-14-2008, 02:24 AM

Good list, I would swap the Heat and NJ.

I know it seems odd putting them at 8 but like i said i see a very good team with the nets and i think they are much better than the heat.

MagicMan92

08-14-2008, 02:25 AM

good list but yea i dont think nets are 8th and until we actually beat detroit i put them ahead of us in the rankings.

It doesnt matter if we can beat them or not, im ordering them by records and i think the magics will have a better record than detroit

*Superman*

08-14-2008, 03:24 AM

It doesnt matter if we can beat them or not, im ordering them by records and i think the magics will have a better record than detroit

Better record maybe, better team, not until we beat them in a playoff series and i am hoping we Vs them again in the 2nd round and MP steps up on D and Tony will help and i want to see AJ play good D on Billups or otherwise, so far, Otis would have failed us this off-season.

8. Miami Heat(I would say u can bet Beasley will win ROY. They already have good defence, but now d-wade is back and amazing, w/ healthy marion, and brilliant b-easy. They mite even pose a threat to boston if they go into the playoffs against them.

Reezy

08-14-2008, 11:32 PM

I don't think Beasley is a lock for Rookie of the Year, I bet Oden wins it.